


oh, what beautiful, bloodthirsty monsters

by Iris_Duncan_72



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood Magic, Cannibalism, Fairies, Fluff and Angst, Gore, Goretober, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Princes, Rescue Missions, nyam nyam, there might be a horny-coded massage or two as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-11-24 18:41:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20912294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iris_Duncan_72/pseuds/Iris_Duncan_72
Summary: The shallow, leisurely world of the three faery princes of the Dawn, Noon, and Dusk realms is shattered when one of them is kidnapped.  But spoiled though they may be, there is a reason they are princes.Perhaps it is time to remind everyone exactly what that reason is.





	oh, what beautiful, bloodthirsty monsters

It has been an eon since the last war between the faery sovereignties.

No longer are the borders regularly patrolled and strictly maintained. No longer do the lofty spires of Dawn, the domed palaces of Noon, and the sprawling estates of Dusk show faeries in only one colour – instead, they all boast a lovely blend of bright blue, warm pink, and soft yellow.

Even the princes walk freely and without worry between the sovereignties.

And what beautiful princes they are. The Dawn prince with his round, glittering eyes and well-honed body. The Noon prince with his broad shoulders and irresistibly charming smile. The Dusk prince with his sun-kissed skin and deep laugh.

Since they have come of age, the princes have drawn many suitors. All manner of creature, both from within the vast reach of the sovereignties and without, coming forward to ask for the right to form a life-bond. The princes are yet young, however, and they have no wish to be tied down in such a way, so they blithely dismiss each offer that comes their way.

Their parents titter fondly, content to let their sons break hearts as they wish; the princes know their duty, after all, and there is no concern that they will not uphold it when the time is right. Meanwhile, the faeries of all three sovereignties exchange smug smirks, satisfied that their beloved princes are demanding nothing but the best and can hardly demean themselves to accept anything less.

Of course, there are also those who have been jilted, their pride crushed and their egos bleeding heart’s blood by the nonchalant word of a faery prince, but surely, _surely_ there is no danger from them. Surely even they would not dare to lift a hand against the three most treasured faeries in all the realms.

_Surely._

‘Dusk! You’re late!’

Felix lands heavily on the lush grass by the secluded spring, a scowl marring his freckled face. He folds away his delicate wings and strides over to where the other princes are waiting. Their quivers hang from their hips, their bows are already strung, and, in the distance, three colourful targets stand in a row.

‘What took you so long?’ Minho, the Dawn prince, asks, more inquisitive than accusatory. His crown of soft pink flowers sits neatly on his black hair.

‘Suitor,’ Felix grumbles, unslinging his pack and quickly setting up. ‘He’d composed me a poem and Mother made me wait till he’d recited the whole thing before I could reject him.’

‘How long was it?’ the Noon prince, Hyunjin, asks, visibly amused as he readjusts his sky-blue flower crown.

Making sure his bow is strung tight enough, Felix straps his bracer to his right arm and replies, ‘There were sixty verses. _Sixty_.’

The older faeries burst out laughing and Felix scowls at them.

‘Just wait, you’ll have epic poetry coming your way soon enough,’ he threatens. ‘Now, can we shoot? Or are you two offering to be my new targets?’

‘Oh, calm down,’ Minho giggles, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. ‘Come on, this will make you feel better.’

They turn their attention to the distant targets and lift their bows as one, nocking their arrows and drawing back the strings in sync. No laughter can be heard now; the princes are sharply focused, each determined to do better than the others. For a moment, there is only the creak of the bows and the burn of muscles being held firmly in position.

Then, at a silent cue, the arrows fly, steel heads thumping into the targets. The bows are lowered and with them the tension. Minho whoops triumphantly, having hit the bullseye, while Felix and Hyunjin sigh; their arrows hit seven and eight points respectively.

‘Least points all up has to give the others a massage,’ Minho suggests, mouth curled up in a smug smirk.

Hyunjin bares his teeth. ‘You’re on, Dawn.’

Felix nods in agreement, jaw set and eyes narrowed with resolve as he pulls out a second bolt.

The princes compete for an hour or more, pausing to retrieve their arrows every ten shots. Despite the dappled shade of the trees, the fierce heat of the early afternoon sun ensures everyone is hot and sweaty by the time the last round is finished.

Minho cheers, white teeth flashing in the light, and Felix huffs a laugh. Hyunjin glares at them both, energy crackling around him. Completely unconcerned, Minho simply snorts and strides over to his target, yanking out his arrows.

Felix slides his bow over his shoulder and grins cheekily at Hyunjin as he follows Minho, saying, ‘Looking forward to that back rub, Noon.’

Hyunjin tips his head back and groans, fit of temper passing as easily as it arrived, and trails after him.

‘Fine, fine,’ he grouches. ‘But not till after we’ve bathed.’

‘Of course,’ Minho agrees, slotting the last of his arrows into his quiver. ‘Wouldn’t want you dripping sweat all over me.’

He wrinkles his nose in disgust and Felix snickers.

‘Better watch out that I don’t crack your ribs,’ Hyunjin hisses.

‘Only if you ask nicely,’ Minho quips, fluttering his dragonfly wings provocatively as he sashays back to the spring.

Soon enough, all three faeries are at the water’s edge, carelessly removing their weapons and equipment. Their flower crowns are set down a little more respectfully, well away from the lip of the pool. Loose summer clothing is likewise shed, the colourful fabric piled between quivers and bows, and the princes stand unashamed in their bare skin.

The spring is not quite large enough for all of them to jump in, so they step lightly over the mossy rocks at one end and slip into the blissfully cool water. They sigh and hum in relief, gliding with the grace of sirens out into centre of the pool. Felix ducks down, diving for the bottom, while Minho floats on his back and Hyunjin stretches his tired muscles in a slow breast stroke. The princes relax until they grow bored, then playing chasing games that involve a lot of splashing and shoving each other underwater without warning.

At last, Felix flips back his gold hair, spits out a mouthful of water, and says, ‘How about that massage then, eh, Noon?’

Hyunjin sighs as Minho immediately perks up, demanding that he go first, what with having won their earlier competition. Felix acquiesces easily, knowing from past experience that to argue with Minho when he has set his mind to something is an exercise in foolishness. So he stays in the spring, happily paddling about, while Minho crawls up onto the bank and promptly flops down on his front. His turns his head to one side and lays it on his folded arms, glittering wings spread over the grass so Hyunjin can access his fair-skinned back.

Scrambling out of the pool, Hyunjin pulls on his loose, low-slung, red silk trousers, uncaring of how the fabric sticks to his wet body. He only wears these so Minho will not grouch about having damp skin pressed against his. Felix whistles appreciatively at the sight and Hyunjin rolls his eyes, though he does not hide his smile.

‘Those are new,’ Minho murmurs, one rose-hued eye cracked open to watch the half-dressed prince straddle him.

Hyunjin kneels on the grass and lowers his weight carefully onto the tail of Minho’s spine, shrugging. ‘A suitor gave me a whole wardrobe of silks last week. Seemed a shame to let them go to waste.’

‘You keep the gifts? I wouldn’t want anyone to get ideas.’

‘I don’t let them _know_, obviously. But some of the gifts are so lovely; how could I give them away?’

Minho hums, eye closing again, and Hyunjin gets to work. He starts with Minho’s shoulders, finding the knots there with his thumbs and slowly working them out. The flesh is reddened by the time he moves his hands lower, though if the sounds the prince under him is making are anything to go by, the unrelenting pressure he’s using is greatly appreciated. Powerful muscles bunch and relax at his touch and a guttural groan rises when Hyunjin digs his knuckles into either side of Minho’s spine.

Stained glass wings twitch and rustle as Hyunjin gentles the taut muscles at their bases and he laughs softly.

‘Sensitive, Dawn?’

Opening his eyes a fraction, Minho tries for a glare but the effect is ruined by how pleasure-drunk he clearly is. His cheeks glow nearly as warmly as his irises.

‘Shut up,’ he mumbles. ‘I’ll have you arrested for insolence to my esteemed per–’

He breaks off into a breathy whine as Hyunjin, deeply amused, firmly strokes his knuckles down the line of Minho’s back.

‘I’ll get you back for this,’ Minho threatens, lashes fluttering down and words distinctly slurred.

‘Hey, you’re the one who wanted a massage,’ Hyunjin replied, satisfied that he’s well on his way to having properly liquefied his first victim.

He continues his ministrations until he’s reached Minho’s waist. Then, with a parting kiss on the dimples below the lower curve of Minho’s spine and a pat of the prince’s bare ass, Hyunjin climbs off him. Minho makes a slight, displeased noise in the back of his throat and Hyunjin grins, combing a soothing hand through silky black hair.

‘Don’t be greedy,’ he teases. ‘It’s Dusk’s turn now.’

Said prince is still happily amusing himself in the spring, snapping his teeth at butterflies and diving under the water every time he sees something interesting. He radiates a childlike enthusiasm and Hyunjin is almost reluctant to disturb him.

‘Dusk!’ he calls and a head of sparkling gold hair whips around in his direction. ‘Do you want your massage or not?’

Expression somehow lighting up even more than it already is, Felix paddles over to the bank and quickly scrambles up it. He catches sight of a borderline comatose Minho and throws his head back in laughter.

Hyunjin smirks at him. ‘Just wait – that’ll be you too soon.’

Felix grins, unphased. ‘I’m holding you to that.’

Without bothering to dry himself at all, the prince lies on his front near Minho, leaving enough space for both their wings to stretch out without touching. He rests his cheek in the grass, arms thrown up around his head, and shuts his eyes with a contented hum. Hyunjin takes this as his cue to get started, so he straddles Felix as he had Minho and begins lightly kneading the prince’s nape and shoulders. Minho is the more muscular of the two but Felix is broader, giving Hyunjin more space to work with.

This is not the first time the faeries have exchanged massages, nor will it be the last, and Hyunjin knows every one of the other two’s sweet spots. They also know his, but as he holds the power right now, that doesn’t really matter. Felix is even more sensitive than Minho, so it’s not long before he’s groaning and sighing beneath Hyunjin’s expert touch. The muscles on his arms bunch, his hands digging into soft earth as Hyunjin leans down to nip at his ear, mercilessly driving the heel of one hand into a tight knot.

‘Relax for me, Dusk,’ Hyunjin coos, pushing harder, coaxing the muscles to loosen.

Felix hisses, jawline sharpening even as he slowly obeys the request.

‘Well done,’ Hyunjin murmurs, feeling the knot give way.

A few minutes later, Felix is as flushed as Minho, his body warm and pliant under Hyunjin’s hands. The prince giggles, delighted in his work, and presses a soft kiss to the back of Felix’s shoulder, eliciting a pleased mumble, before moving off him.

Then he pouts and folds his arms.

‘Who’s going to massage _me?’_ he whines.

Minho huffs a dramatic sigh, pushing himself upright and stretching his arms above his head. His veins pop out and his muscles flex in a mouth-watering fashion with latent strength. Then he sweeps his hair back in an oh-so-casual move that would no doubt send hordes of admirers to their knees.

Hyunjin just snorts.

Rose-pink eyes flashing, Minho sniffs and says haughtily, ‘I though you _wanted_ a massage.’

Promptly swallowing his amusement, Hyunjin puts on his most charming smile, bats his lashes, and replies, ‘Oh, yes please, Your Highness.’

Minho shoots him a dark look and perhaps it is no surprise that he gives no quarter when, moments later, he stabs his thumbs into the meat of Hyunjin’s shoulders. He smiles in vindictive satisfaction but takes care not to _really_ hurt the faery whimpering for forgiveness beneath him; Hyunjin cries far too easily and Minho doesn’t fancy dealing with the attendant wailing and blubbering that comes from that. (At least, that’s what the Dawn prince would say if asked.)

Accordingly, he gentles his touch a bit but, as the unchallenged strongest among the three princes, still finds it far too easy to reduce Hyunjin to a limp, blissed-out mess. The Noon prince really has no defence against concentrated attention and physical contact.

Minho affectionately tugs on the lobe of Hyunjin’s ear before rolling onto his back between the other two, dressed only in his white linen trousers (so as not to get _entirely_ distracted). He sighs at the delicious warmth of the sun on his skin. His eyes slip shut and when Felix and Hyunjin wriggle a bit closer to him, he does not push them away.

They nap.

Felix sips plum wine from a yellow diamond-studded crystal glass and watches the proceedings with veiled distaste.

Faeries from all three sovereignties and a number of other folk mix and mingle before him. A sylph makes barbed small talk with a lord of Noon whose robe is encrusted with so many sapphires it’s a wonder the fabric hasn’t ripped. A pair of oreads discuss business with a kumiho, something about hunting season being only a few weeks away and the human peasantry.

Yellow-clad servers weave effortlessly between the guests, offering more wine and arrays of delicious morsels. On a marble dais at one end of the courtyard, a siren sings, sultry and sweet, their voice pitched to entice and relax. Everyone here tonight is strong enough to resist the surreptitious pull of their song; indeed, it was a requirement on the invites.

The whole affair is very restrained, very genteel, very polite.

Or, as Felix would put it, mind-numbingly dull.

He and the other princes rarely put in an appearance at these official, diplomatic events but sometimes their parents insist and so they must obey. At least there’s going to be live entertainment later. Thus, Felix stands to one side with a couple of court friends to help him fend off unwanted would-be suitors, dressed in formal attire, and his gold eyes sweep the crowds for the only two faces he cares to see right now.

‘Ah, Prince Felix,’ comes a familiar voice to his left.

Felix turns and Seungmin and Jisung part in front of him so he can see the faery approaching.

‘General Solar,’ he says, inclining his head as she bends in a shallow bow. There are many, many faeries whose company he does not care for one bit, but the Dusk Generals are not among them.

She greets his companions, who in turn offer deeper genuflections than his own. Then her attention returns to the prince.

‘Do you plan to skulk around here for the entire event, Your Highness?’ Solar asks, bold as ever, her red-lipped smile faint and her calm gaze unflinching.

Seungmin and Jisung fail to stifle smirks and Felix scowls.

‘Would you have me walk amongst the masses?’ the prince demands, quietly so his words do not carry. ‘I can just about fend them off if I stay on the outskirts, but I would be overrun the moment I joined them all.’

Solar raises one sharp blond brow. ‘You think highly of yourself, my Prince. Those gathered tonight have other reasons to be here than to publicly press their suit. I rather think they would not wish to earn the ire of their hosts by behaving so improperly.’

She is and has always been far too good at making Felix feel like a child and he grits his teeth against the feeling.

‘Whatever my opinion of myself, General, I know the reality I live in every day. You will forgive me if your words do not wholly convince me,’ he retorts.

Smile broadening slightly, Solar says, ‘We might just make a king of you yet, Your Highness.’ Then she extends her elbow towards him. ‘Come. The vultures will not swoop with me at your side, unless they seek to taste the sharp edge of my blade.’

Felix glances down, sees a vaguely decorative belt around the waist of her dark blue, double breasted jacket-dress, and a familiar sword hanging from it. He sighs, readjusting the yellow flower crown upon his head and gulping down the rest of his wine before handing the glass to Jisung. That was his second glass tonight, which means no more for him unless he fancies crossing his parents (he doesn’t).

Straightening the cuffs of his gauzy, cream and gold tunic, Felix slips his hand through the crook of Solar’s waiting arm. ‘Lead the way, then, General.’

She whisks him around the terrace, dropping in on this conversation and diving into that one with an indomitable poise that Felix’s diplomacy lessons had certainly never taught him. That is not to say he does not know the fundamentals of courtly behaviour and anyway, he’s been charming people since before he knew what the word meant.

Solar was not wrong – he receives no propositions pertaining to courtship with her as his ever-smiling, hawk-eyed companion.

_Perhaps I should walk around with a sword at my hip too,_ he ponders idly as a particularly old-fashioned man from some Noon noble family talks at him about the importance of lineage and good breeding. _I’m sure I could convince Mother and Father to let me wear a bow if it was pretty enough..._

The courtyard is very large and there are a lot of people in it. Over the course of an hour, Solar and Felix make their way around about half of it, by which point the prince is more than ready for another glass of wine.

He’s just considering risking reaching for a third one when –

‘Prince of Dusk!’

Felix spins away from the gaggle of young ladies Solar had just steered him into, spirits already lifting.

And there is Hyunjin in all his royal blue glory, sweeping down the stairs from the first terrace to the second. He is the very image of everything a faery prince should be – tall, regal, icily beautiful, and swathed in silks and shimmering stones of lapis lazuli.

‘Excuse me, madams,’ Felix says, sparing them only a brief glance as he disentangles himself from Solar. Striding towards the staircase, he spreads his arms in greeting, and cries, ‘Prince of Noon!’

Hyunjin reaches the courtyard and lifts his hand, palm down, to Felix. The Dusk Prince takes the offered hand in his own and dips his head to brush a kiss over Hyunjin’s bejewelled knuckles.

‘Welcome to Dusk, Prince Noon,’ Felix says dramatically as he straightens up. ‘It has been too long.’

‘It has indeed, Prince Dusk,’ Hyunjin replies, expression cool bar his mischievously twinkling eyes. ‘Almost three days, if memory serves.’

Delight bubbling in his veins, Felix laughs unabashedly, ignoring the attention they are drawing. Leaning in close so the other prince, he whispers, ‘Do you know where Dawn is?’

‘Last I heard, the third terrace,’ Hyunjin replies softly, scarcely moving his lips.

Felix draws back and smiles his best public smile. ‘Come then, Your Highness.’

He inclines his head to the group of noblewomen and lets his smile take a turn for the beatific when Solar rolls her eyes at him. Then he and Hyunjin cut a path through the throng towards the next short flight of stairs.

‘How long have you been here?’ Felix murmurs, nodding politely to an aging Dusk duke. ‘I couldn’t find you anywhere.’

‘We were a bit late,’ Hyunjin answers out the corner of his mouth. ‘A bit past fashionably so.’

‘Lucky for some,’ the Dusk prince mutters, starting down the stairs.

Hyunjin huffs through his nose. Then: ‘What sort of wine is floating around?’

‘Plum. Not weak, hence I’m not allowed to have a third glass.’

Swiping a crystal chalice from a server as soon as they stepped onto the third courtyard, Hyunjin blithely replies, ‘Have some of mine,’ and takes a mouthful.

With a surreptitious glance to make sure neither of his parents are in sight, Felix accepts the offered drink gratefully, taking a long sip before passing it back.

The pair of princes make their way around the terrace, never lingering anywhere too long, but doing their best to manage a delicate balance between haughty and gracious. Felix smiles and Hyunjin laughs lightly as guests regale them with various stories and titbits of gossip, and together they create a striking image.

At last, they reach a cluster of very well-dressed faeries, all of them with sashes of soft pink over their shoulders and know they have found the Dawn royals.

‘Prince of Dawn,’ Felix says loudly as he and Hyunjin pause outside the group.

Fabric flutters and dragonfly-wings crackle as the faeries hurry to turn and make way for the new arrivals. Minho appears in the centre, expression reserved, rose quartz crystals glittering in his ears. Then he sees who has interrupted and his face lights up.

‘Prince of Dusk, Prince of Noon,’ he murmurs, a smile curling around his mouth. ‘How good of you to come find me.’

‘Tonight’s show is about to start in the amphitheatre,’ Felix continues. ‘Will you come and watch with us?’

Minho inclines his head, the pink flowers of his crown beautifully offset by his dark hair. ‘Gladly.’ He glances to the courtiers around him who all bow and move out of the way. ‘Enjoy yourselves,’ he tells them, moving to join the other princes, ‘and I shall see you later.’

The amphitheatre, used for all manner of entertainment when the palace is hosting, is located to one side of the terraces. The princes make their way down the sweeping staircase that leads to the gardens, joining the steady trickle of guests on the same path. Small, unobtrusive lamps light the way, leading the faeries under an arch of weeping willows, around the corner, and there it is.

The stone walls of the theatre are not only as tall as Hyunjin, much of the arena being set below ground level. All four gates are open and the princes enter through the nearest to see the benches rapidly filling with guests. As amphitheatres go, this one is relatively small, only seating a thousand or so, but there are plenty of eyes on them as Felix leads the others down to the royal box. This is opposite to the only direct entrance onto the floor of the theatre, which is connected to the bowels of the palace through a long underground tunnel.

The princes incline their heads respectfully to their parents and older family members who sit at the back of the box, in the higher seats, and receive faint smiles and nods in return. Felix takes the centre seat of the front row, with Minho on his left and Hyunjin on his right. They settle down to wait in quiet anticipation.

At last, a hush falls over the gathered crowd and the excitement climbs sharply as the gated tunnel entrance in the arena opens and out steps a Dusk faery with long silver hair and a wide smile, his arms open wide.

‘Greetings, honoured guests!’ he cries, his voice magically amplified, and he twirls to encompass the entire theatre with his call. ‘I, Chan of the Dusk Sovereignty, shall be your Master of Ceremonies for tonight’s festivities! We have three matches for your entertainment – three bouts between six representatives of six different human settlements, each seeking a year’s pardon from the hunting season.’

Chan sketches a dramatic bow at the royal box, his actions smooth and well-practised, and Felix knows why his parents bring out this particular faery whenever the shows are open to large audiences. Chan is a perfect showman, his energy vivid and his enthusiasm highly contagious.

‘There may be three winners! There may be none! The choice is yours, beloved guests,’ Chan exclaims, leaping into the air on glittering wings and turning to face the open gate below him. Sweeping an arm out to the side, he declares, ‘Come! Let us behold the first contestants.’

A rumbling boom sounds from below the arena, a massive gong struck, and a moment later, two humans jog out into the theatre. Cheering and applause ripple through the crowd, bloodlust tinging the cries that ring out, including those from the delighted princes.

Chan’s voice cuts through the din, introducing the humans and the settlements they fight for. He lifts one hand high above his head and after he has let the tension coil for three torturous seconds, he slices his arm downwards. Faeries screech their approval, the war drums begin to pound in a hypnotic rhythm, and the humans launch themselves at one another.

The first match has begun.

Later, after the matches are concluded and the vicious excitement has faded from the air, the guests begin to depart.

The Noon party is the first of the royal families to leave and Hyunjin sighs contentedly as he watches his mother thank the Dusk rulers for an enjoyable evening. He turns back to the princes, ready to say his own goodbyes, when one of the Dusk servants approaches and bows.

‘What is it?’ Felix asks, implicit permission for them to rise.

‘There is someone asking for His Highness, the Prince of Noon,’ the servant answers, hands folded neatly behind their back.

Hyunjin groans and Minho laughs.

‘Someone?’ the Dusk Prince parrots, raising a brow.

‘A woman, Your Highness. My apologies, I could not discern her nature; she waits in the elm grove and says the matter is personal.’

‘Oh, I’ll bet it is,’ Minho snickers, elbowing Hyunjin, whose face is buried in his hands. ‘Go on, Noon. Show up, say no, come back.’ He claps the prince on the back bracingly. ‘You can do it.’

Felix dismisses the servant and grins at Hyunjin’s forlorn expression. ‘We’ll tell your mother,’ he promises solicitously. ‘So you don’t get left behind.’

The Noon Prince scowls at them both. ‘Bah. Traitors, the pair of you. Fine, see you later.’ With that, he spins on his heel and stalks off down through the gardens.

Minho and Felix exchange an amused glance, then head up to the terrace where the Noon Queen is.

It doesn’t take long to realise that Hyunjin is missing but it does take a little longer for anyone to grow concerned. He is a prince, after all – quite capable of taking care of himself.

His personal guards do not find him with the royal party returning to Noon.

Dusk’s guards do not find him on the palace grounds.

The Prince of Dusk and the Prince of Dawn, the most likely people to known Hyunjin’s whereabouts when no-one else does, cannot help. They last saw him heading for the elm grove to meet a presumed suitor.

It is then that worry spikes, pulses quickening in anxiety, tension coiling between shoulder blades, and alarm sharpening tiring minds. The search efforts increase but Hyunjin does not appear. Guests are stopped, questioned. The Noon Queen, Noon’s most powerful magic user, initiates a trace on her son which leads her only as far as the bottom of the elm grove. There, she finds a single lapis bead lying in the grass; the trail ends there.

If there was any doubt of foul play before, there is not now – only a powerful magic suppressor would be able to mask the trace of one so powerful as a faery prince. But who could create such a thing, or have access to it? Few creatures, faery or otherwise, are capable of such sorcery in any of the three sovereignties. A list is hastily drawn up, one that includes most members of all the royal families, but it will take time to go through in any sort of a useful way.

Time in which the Noon Prince is likely getting further away and all the harder to find.

Hyunjin wakes with an aching body.

He rolls over, vaguely wondering why he feels so uncomfortable, and quickly realises that he is not, in fact, lying on a bed. Instead, the surface beneath him is hard and cold. Thoroughly puzzled, he cracks open his eyes –

And immediately sits bolt upright.

He is in a small, rough-hewn cell that looks like it’s been carved directly into a bare rock face and left unfinished. The ground, on which it seems he slept, is uneven, the roof barely taller than him, and the space is only a few paces wide or long. Only one side is open and that is fenced off by a wall of steel bars that hum with magic meant to contain and repel.

But it certainly shouldn’t be enough to keep _him_, a faery prince, inside.

So Hyunjin rolls to his feet, noting that he is still dressed in the blue robes he wore to Dusk’s ball, though his flower crown is no longer on his head, and he strides over to the bars. There is a dimly lit area on the other side of the barrier, a corridor going away to his right and a solid door set into the opposite wall. A chunk of glowstone is embedded in the stone next to the door, a rudimentary lamp providing only a weak light.

He reaches out to wrap his fingers around two of the bars before him, pushing outward with his magic –

_CRACK_

A strangled gasp is torn from him and his eyelids flutter, his brain struggling to process the past half second. He falls heavily to the ground at the back of the cell, having been flung there by the containment magic coiled around the steel bars. If his body had been aching when he woke, now it is protesting much more vociferously. He cautiously bends and rotates one elbow, winces as his ribs throb, and raises a tentative hand to the back of his head. Hissing faintly, Hyunjin withdraws his hand and see sticky wet blood on his fingertips. Not a lot, but any loss is dangerous in such a situation.

Returning his attention to the front of his cell, the Noon Prince grits his teeth and glares at the surprisingly powerful barrier. How had it repelled him so violently? It would take the magic of a monarch to do such a thing and he had not sensed –

– _pale hands rising out of the shadows, a collar of silver glinting in the dappled moonlight –_

Hyunjin’s hands fly to his throat and his eyes widen as he feels a tight necklet of smooth metal there. It has no clasp, not so much as a seam. As the memory trickles back into his mind, he has the cold realisation that he had let his guard down inexcusably low last night. As a prince in familiar, trusted territory, he had not needed to be _on_ guard per se – but to allow a stranger whom he could not see properly to bring their hands close to his body with an object he also could not see clearly? His defence teacher will be disappointed.

_If I had been even a _little_ cautious, I likely would not be locked in a foreign cell with a suppressor fastened around my neck,_ he thinks angrily.

This explains why his body ached before he was thrown into the wall; his magic must have been shoving at the restriction while he slept, gradually wearing him down.

As soon as this crosses his mind, Hyunjin realises he is still doing it and promptly reins his magic in; no point wasting valuable energy when he doesn’t know how long he’s going to be stuck here. It is unlikely to be long, of course (the sovereignties will be in uproar, no doubt), but nonetheless – he has been caught unawares once and Hyunjin vows not to make the same mistake twice.

Settling into a marginally more comfortable seated position as he waits for either his captors or rescuers to arrive, he finds a little comfort in the fact that he had been alone when he was taken. Felix and Minho had both been up by the terraces, surrounded by guards, family, and dozens of loyal subjects.

Holding this thought firmly in his mind, Hyunjin fixes the door with a heavy-lidded stare and waits.

An indeterminate amount of time later, the door opens and in slips a cloaked figure, who just as quickly shuts the door behind them,

Hyunjin does not move a muscle but for his eyes, closely watching the stranger approach. They stop with a foot or so between them and the enchanted barrier before, with as dramatic a gesture as possible, lifting their pale arms and sweeping back their deep cowl.

A woman with the delicate features and hair ribbons of a sylph looks at him with feverishly bright grey eyes. Her apple-red lips are parted in an unsettling grin, her expression hinting at a mind unhinged.

‘Good morning, Prince of Noon,’ the sylph says, her words formal and her tone breathy with excitement.

She sounds like any one of thousands of suitors Hyunjin has encountered over the last five years and he abruptly understands.

‘I have rejected you before today, have I not?’ he asks coolly.

Her eyes widen. ‘You remember me, Prince Hyunjin?’

Restraining himself from curling his lip and scoffing derisively given his current circumstances, Hyunjin replies, ‘No. It was an educated guess – why else would you be so foolish as to kidnap me?’

The sylph’s expression sours somewhat. ‘I would be a perfect partner for you. I am beautiful, learned, powerful, and devoted, yet you did not give me the slightest chance to prove myself! Why were you so cruel to me, Prince of Noon?’

_Because you are infatuated with only my image and thus immensely boring,_ he does not say.

‘I was blunt, not cruel,’ Hyunjin opts to say instead. ‘And I assure you that many, many other would-be suitors of mine possess the same qualities. Those are not the only factors I take into consideration when I make my choice.’

‘Well, what else _is_ there?’ the sylph demands, stepping a little closer like she can’t quite help herself.

Hyunjin risks raising one brow an incredulous fraction of an inch. ‘Attraction,’ he states simply. ‘Whether or not I _like_ you.’

He does not go on and he does not need to – the sylph’s expression is contorting like she has just eaten an entire lemon.

‘What does _that_ – but you had _thousands_ – you will _never_ find a partner that way!’

‘That is hardly your problem.’

‘It is no problem at all!’ she retorts shrilly, slashing out with one arm. ‘Attraction can build over time. It has no bearing on such important matters. You must take a suitable partner and _I_ am she! If you wish to leave this cell and have that suppressor ever removed, Prince of Noon, you will swear a life-bond with me!’

Now Hyunjin _does_ scoff. ‘Then I shall stay right here until I am rescued.’

The sylph’s expression takes a turn for the sly and crafty. ‘You will not be rescued, Prince Hyunjin. No-one will think to search here and even if they do eventually come by, your presence is very well-hidden. Someone could walk right over you and not notice.’

Hyunjin shrugs, ignoring the twinge in his back muscles from his earlier collision. ‘You will forgive me if I don’t take your word for it, sylph.’

‘Somin,’ she says sharply. ‘My name is Somin.’

He does not reply, merely watching her steadily.

After a tense minute, she turns away. ‘I will see you soon, Your Highness. Think carefully on your decision.’

With that, she strides out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Hyunjin exhales slowly, stiff muscles relaxing. Then he closes his eyes and starts trying to sneak even the merest tendril of his magic past the chokehold of the collar around his throat.

He does not succeed.

Out in the sovereignties, alarm and concern over the missing prince quickly turns to outrage and fury. How dare someone do harm to a faery prince? There can be no mercy for such a lowlife criminal! Impatience brews among the populace, a seething desire to rend the perpetrator limb from limb.

But as the first week drags into the second and the second drags into the third, indignant anger gives way to creeping doubt and bone-deep dread. No ransom note appears and no clues are found. Frightened whispers fill the heavy pauses and the long silences, all saying the same things.

_Where is the Prince of Noon? Will he be found before the hunting season? What will happen if he is _not?

The hunting urges fall upon every faery at intermittent intervals, based on their own cycle. Weaker faeries hunt every couple of months but do not need much sustenance. The most powerful faeries, like the royals, a few nobles, and the generals, hunt only once a year and they must gorge until they are drenched in red to quench their hunger.

For the magic that sustains faerykind requires a regular boost of potent energy – and there is only one way to acquire that energy.

No faery can deny the call to hunt. To even attempt resistance causes terrible pain as the faery’s body begins to cannibalise itself for energy.

With the royal hunting season only a fortnight away, the search efforts for the lost prince take on a piercing urgency.

Minho and Felix sit side by side at the inquiry table in Noon. To the Dawn Prince’s left is the Noon Queen, her Archivist, and her Master of the Guard. Hyunjin’s mother questions each and every one of her son’s suitors as they come into the round chamber, sit in the provided chair below the dais, and leave the chamber.

She is succinct, brisk, and impressively intimidating, in Minho’s opinion.

Neither he nor Felix have had a suitor visit them since they each nearly killed the first foolish enough to press their case since Hyunjin’s disappearance. Minho can’t say he minds particularly.

The next suitor is let in through the left side door by the guard there and makes their way over to the plain chair. Visibly sweating under such intense scrutiny, they state their name and are duly told to sit. The Archivist marks them off on his extensive list.

Felix’s wings rustle for the third time in as many minutes and his hand slowly clenches into a white-knuckled fist on his thigh, though his face remains coldly impassive. Minho’s chest tightens at the sight and he lightly taps Felix’s fit with one finger, drawing his attention.

_Do you need a break?_ Minho asks with a twitch of his brows towards the exit behind the table.

Felix swallows and barely inclines his head, gold eyes fixed and hard.

Quietly pushing his chair back, Minho stands and takes the Dusk Prince’s wrist, uncaring of the suitor’s attention briefly wavering to them as they leave through the discreet back door. Minho nods to the guard who opens it for them, leading Felix out and down the short flight of steps into the private room where they had gathered with the Noon Queen and her people before entering the inquiry chamber.

Felix pulls out of Minho’s hold and strides over to the glass doors on the left, pushing through them out onto the stone balcony without a word. Minho follows more slowly, making no comment as the Dusk Prince braces his hands on the balustrade and hangs his golden head, glittering wings spread wide. The buttercup-yellow flowers of his crown glow softly in the late morning light. Felix’s shoulders, clad in white linen and gold silk, are tightly bunched but Minho refrains from touching him.

Instead, he gives the Dusk Prince a moment to himself and looks out over the sprawling palace of Noon. Servants and courtiers bustle about through courtyards and breezeways, guards bristle at every corner, and birds flit through the ornamental trees and flowerbeds of the palace’s central garden.

All that’s missing is the Noon Prince himself. Minho grits his teeth against the now-familiar sickly combination of worry and anger writhing in his belly.

‘I feel useless.’ Felix’s voice is quiet and so low it’s near-guttural. ‘It’s been weeks and we still have _no idea_ where he is and all we’re doing is listening to hundreds of suitors say the same damn things.’ He breathes out sharply, lifting his head to stare out towards the horizon. ‘There’s got to be more we can do.’

‘That’s not all we’re doing,’ Minho swiftly rebuts. ‘Search parties are scouring the sovereignties and beyond, every border is being watched, and everyone is on high alert for anything unusual.’ He jerks his head back towards the inquiry chamber, even though Felix isn’t looking. ‘No lies can be told in that room and all the suitors who don’t show up will be hunted down.’

Despite his calm words, he knows exactly what Felix’s response will be before he so much as opens his mouth.

‘It’s not enough.’

Minho leans back against the stone railing and digs his nails into it. ‘I know.’

The Dawn Prince’s breath audibly trembles as he exhales. ‘It’s not enough,’ he repeats very softly.

The truth of that statement silences any other platitudes Minho might have said and he reaches out to lightly touch the small of Felix’s back, offering comfort.

A tremor ripples through Felix and he straightens, turning away from the view to face Minho, his face severe with emotion. ‘We’re going to find him, Dawn,’ he declares firmly.

‘We are,’ Minho solemnly agrees.

‘And when we do, we’re not going to let go of him again. _I_ am not going to let go of _either_ of you ever again.’

Felix is plainly serious, his tone implacable, his gaze fierce, and the Dawn Prince is suddenly quite breathless.

He clears his throat, which doesn’t do much to help, and stammers, ‘Do you – do you mean –?’

‘You, O Prince of Dawn, and our absent Prince of Noon are the most precious people to me in all the world,’ Felix interrupts, lifting a hand to cradle the side of Minho’s face. ‘I will do what I must to protect you both. That way, nothing like this will ever happen again unless someone wishes to personally incur my wrath.’

Despite his bold words, he goes quiet, seemingly waiting for a response.

Minho places his own hands over Felix’s, feeling calluses press against his skin. ‘You’re damn lucky I feel exactly the same way, Dusk, or I’d have to break your arm for such presumptuous arrogance.’

Felix’s lips twitch, briefly shaping a faint, eminently smug smirk and in that moment he is every inch the Crown Prince of a faery sovereignty. Then his expression shifts to one of lethal focus.

‘You could have tried,’ he says coolly, though his touch remains tender.

Now it is Minho who steps away, ignoring the small part of him that wants to stay right here forever. ‘Come. We have two weeks. Let us find Noon and drag him home.’

He holds out his hand. Felix takes it and, filled with fresh determination, they return indoors.

They do not succeed.

The fortnight approaches and passes, leaving behind it sudden, deep-rooted pangs in the bellies of the royal faeries, the first signs of their most primal hunger.

The hunting season has arrived.

Dread fills Hyunjin when he wakes and feels the first twang of his hunting urges fading from his abdomen. He knows very well what this means and somehow, he can’t see Somin releasing him to satiate his hunger. That would be bad enough on its own, but the problem is compounded by the fact that he has not eaten nor drunk since his capture. Hyunjin has kept himself alive and reasonably nourished with his magic but that will demand a steep price from him in the form of a significantly increased appetite this season.

Time is a difficult thing to measure when surrounded by eternal twilight, the light of the glowstone neither weakening or strengthening, but Hyunjin has not long been awake this time when the door opens and in walks the sylph. To his mild surprise, she is accompanied by two others.

‘Greetings, Prince Hyunjin,’ Somin says brightly.

She never greets him with time-related words like morning or evening; no doubt another tactic to disorient him.

Hyunjin stretches and refolds his wings, something he does several times an hour now, the appendages itching for flight. Crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the rock wall, he does not reply to Somin, instead eyeing up the newcomers.

The woman, shorter than Somin and with colder eyes and white hair, not black, is also a sylph. The man, broad-shouldered and looking slightly uncomfortable, is a faery. His eyes are not blue, yellow, or pink, however; their colour is indistinct and dark, indicating he is not aligned with any of the faery sovereignties.

Unphased by his lack of a response, Somin bounces on the balls of her feet and asks, ‘Do you know what day it is, Your Highness? It’s the first day of the royal hunting season!’

The other sylph looks down her nose at him and sneers, ‘He knows. Look at him, I’ll bet he’s already felt the hunger stirring.’

Somin’s smile widens, her pale eyes unblinking. ‘Is that true, my Prince? Can you feel the urge to hunt rising within you? You know what happens if you don’t obey it...’

Hyunjin curls his lip at the trio, feeling only disgust at them.

‘Oh, but how rude, I have not introduced my companions,’ she quickly adds, tutting to herself. Gesturing first to the sylph, she continues, ‘This is Jiwoo, my cousin, who does not like you, and this is Taehyung, my friend, who also doesn’t like you. He’s a faery, same as you!’

‘Not the same as him, Somin,’ Taehyung amends, cutting her a sharp look. ‘I’m not one of _them_.’

Jiwoo spits on the ground, loathing twisting her fine features. ‘There’s nothing royal about you and your kind, Noon,’ she growls. ‘Being insatiably hungry doesn’t give you the right to –’

‘Do you plan to bore me into accepting your deal, sylph?’ Hyunjin drawls, words directed at Somin though his gaze remains locked with Jiwoo’s.

Jiwoo snarls at the interruption, striding forward to stand close to the bars of the cell, her hair ribbons aflutter. ‘You have far too much cheek for someone who will be dead soon.’

‘He will _not_ be dead,’ Somin denies at once, glaring at her cousin. ‘Prince Hyunjin may be stubborn but he will come around when he sees there is no other option.’ She suddenly smiles at Hyunjin again. ‘Won’t you?’

‘As there will always be another option, I will not,’ he tells her plainly, even as a nagging tendril of _hunger_, of _need_ curls through his gut.

Somin flushes angrily, but Taehyung lays a hand on her shoulder. ‘Give him a few days. The bloodlust will have him tight between its teeth by then. Not even a _prince_ will be able to withstand that kind of pain.’

Trepidation threatens, but Hyunjin ignores it, shifting his attention to the man. ‘Drifter,’ he states, using the common name for an unaligned faery. ‘Tried it yourself, have you? Denying the hunting urges?’

Taehyung drops his hand and joins a still-bristling Jiwoo by the bars, his expression somewhere between haunted and sadistic. ‘I’m not a filthy murderer like you, _Prince_. Look down on me all you want but I’m not the one who goes out and slaughters entire families for my own gain every year.’

Hyunjin laughs because he knows it will enrage his audience. ‘They are only humans,’ he scoffs. ‘They breed like rabbits; I doubt they even notice their missing members after the blood has been washed away.’

Fury bubbles up on the other side of the bars and he waits for someone to lash out, to give him an opening –

But then Somin is the one tugging her companions away, back towards the door despite their clenched jaws and hate-filled eyes.

‘We will visit another time, Prince Hyunjin!’ she calls smugly. ‘When your instincts have made you more reasonable!’

Hunger surges through the Noon Prince in time with the slam of the door and Hyunjin hopes against hope that he will be rescued before he gets that desperate. For there is no doubt in his mind that help _will_ come – it’s simply a matter of _when_ – but what state will he be in when it arrives?

_I will not accept the sylph’s demand,_ he swears to himself, nails digging into his palms. _If it is the last thing I do – I will not accept it!_

It takes Hyunjin four days to start screaming.

On the second day of the hunting season, the Noon Queen is forced to call a halt to the inquiries. Her bloodlust is rising rapidly and she must commence her family’s hunt. Minho and Felix understand this, their own instincts pricking under their skin, but they do not like it. How can they focus on feeding with Hyunjin still missing?

‘Think of it like this,’ General Solar tells Felix as they stand in the front courtyard of the Dusk palace, the royal hunting party gathering and preparing around them. ‘If you do not feed, you will be useless to Prince Hyunjin. You will be unable to help him at all.’

Ice crawls through Felix’s blood and he stares at her in helpless fury.

She does not back down, of course. ‘Go, Prince Felix; sate your hunger and return strong enough to hunt the Noon boy to the ground.’

The General turns away as the Dusk King calls her and Felix is left standing alone.

But her words stay with him, even after the hunt commences and the prince’s most lethal instincts surface. They rattle around inside him like dice in a cup, keeping him from immersing himself in the blood-soaked bliss of the feeding frenzy.

The faeries fall on a settlement with practised violence, brushing aside resistance efforts easily, and sinking their sharp teeth into fleeing, screaming humans. Vicious hunger leaves a haphazard trail of torn flesh and broken bodies in its wake. Human blood is less sweet, their meat less nourishing than that of the faeries but there are so many _more_ humans than faeries that it balances out. This is just as well, really, as it’s the core of the peace treaty formed by sovereignties long, long past.

It has been an eon since the last war between the faery realms and it has been an eon since humans were designated prey.

Felix’s hunger is strong and he partakes in the carnage as he must, ripping open a human’s throat to drink straight from their throat, crushing another’s ribcage to consume their warm heart. His senses sigh in satisfaction but his mind will not quiet, refusing to sink into the haze of bloodlust he has long been accustomed to.

_–_ _hunt the Noon boy to the ground –_

He rocks to a halt on the roof of a collapsing building, red fingers tightly gripping the beam he crouches on. His terrified prey streaks away into the evening light but he hardly notices. Is this still the second day of the hunting season or is it the third? Felix doesn’t know and it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the memory that has suddenly sprung to the fore of his mind, dredged up by the echo of the General’s words.

The memory of one of the suitors questioned by the Noon Queen, a sylph with dark hair and many ribbons, saying something about a new house, an alibi involving a mysterious cousin and a drifter of all people, and a fanatical look in her eye –

_–_ _hunt the Noon boy to the ground –_

_– to the ground –_

_– the ground –_

Felix suddenly straightens up, tips his head back to the twilight sky, and _roars_. Ignoring the wail of his interrupted hunting instincts, he uses the new strength coursing through him to fling his mind across hundreds of miles of land to Minho. The Dawn Prince’s mind is awash with blood and hunger but he responds to Felix’s cry, his higher consciousness rising to awareness through the red haze.

_The sylph! The sylph past the edge of Noon has him!_

Minho’s immediate howl of fury echoes through Felix’s head and as one they reach out, seeking, seeking, seeking –

_There she is._

They run.

Desperation and barely-calmed hunger lend the princes impressive speed and they push their bodies to the limit, crossing the sovereignties between then to Noon in record time. The fifth day of the hunting season is dawning when their paths meet, at the farthest edge of Noon’s territory, and then they run in tandem past the border into the wilds of unclaimed land, locked onto the unmasked trace of a certain sylph.

Naturally, she is waiting for them outside her tall house when they arrive; they have done nothing to hide their approach.

‘Prince of Dawn, Prince of Dusk,’ she says in surprised greeting as they stop no more than a dozen paces from her. ‘To what do I owe –’

‘Where is the Noon Prince?’ Minho snarls, murderous intent dripping from his voice and bunching his shoulders.

The sylph falters very briefly, her expression showing only a split second of apprehension before it smoothly morphs into a pristine façade of helpless confusion. That slight moment is more than enough, however, and when she opens her mouth to espouse false excuses, Felix darts forwards into her space and backhands her into the front of the house. Marble crunches and she drops to her feet, swaying in dazed pain. She wipes blood from her mouth and hisses wordlessly at them, clearly outraged.

‘Do not think to _lie_ to us, sylph,’ the Dusk Prince spits, shaking with the barely leashed desire to rend her limb from limb and feast on the remains. ‘Give us the truth and your death may yet be painless.’

But she tosses her head, ribbons fluttering in her hair, and her tone is hard as she snaps, ‘You are outside the boundaries of Noon. You have no rights over me.’

Felix twitches convulsively but Minho steadies him with a touch to his arm.

The sheer rage within the Dawn Prince has reached such a point that he almost sounds calm as he says, ‘So be it.’

Between one breath and the next, he is standing toe to toe with her. The sylph’s eyes widen and Minho’s fist punches through her abdomen with an awful squelching sound. She shrieks, shrill and piercing, and blood flecks his face before he silences her by ripping out her spine. She collapses immediately, gore and viscera leaking out of the gaping hole in her middle onto the ground, soaking the grass.

Before Minho has time to do more than toss the spine he holds to one side, the door to the house bursts open and another woman – another sylph – races out. Her face goes as white as her hair when she spots the mangled corpse at the prince’s feet and she clutches at her face, screaming in horror. Fierce winds coil around her, swiftly building in strength, but Felix is already diving across the space.

He reaches for the sylph, ready to tear and break, but she skitters away and he only manages to gouge her arm. Her soft flesh rips, coming away under his nails, and she screeches again.

‘I will end you for this!’ she roars and flings her hands towards the princes.

Winds with the force of a small hurricane crash into them, but they are immensely powerful faeries with fresh energy fuelling them and seething anger pushing them onward and they do not flinch.

Hyunjin lies on his side in his cell, limp body wracked with uncontrollable trembling. He hears the drifter laughing from somewhere beyond the bars but lacks the energy to even lift his head. His voice gave out hours ago so his screams no longer echo off the rocky walls. Instead, he whimpers as wave after relentless wave of ferocious hunger slams into him. Every muscle aches as the self-cannibalism process picks up, his body weakening with every stuttered breath.

A particularly severe pang of hunger makes him gasp, knees drawing up close to his chest, bloodied fingertips clawing weakly at the stone floor. The Noon Prince gags against the agony and desperately hopes it will be enough to tip into unconsciousness but the wave lessens as quickly as it comes, leaving him winded.

He’d cry if he could but even that is beyond him, his internal system desperately consuming everything it can for energy. A dry sob scrapes up his throat and he shivers, eyes fluttering shut. His hunting instincts are not done with him yet, though, Hyunjin finds he _can_ still move when another paroxysm seizes him and his spine bends like a bow, muscles locked rigid, and mouth open wide on a silent cry.

The drifter’s cruel laughter rings out again and Hyunjin thinks he must be going mad, his senses playing tricks on him when the sound abruptly cuts off and a solid thud sends vibrations through the stone. One of his wings spasms and he coughs in startled pain, panic rippling through him like wildfire as the searing burn spreads to his shoulder.

He hears raised voices again, feels the hum of potent energy pressing against his skin, but the pain catches his other wing in its ferocious grasp too and Hyunjin arches off the ground, whimpering and panting and –

Minho wraps his hands around two of the bars of Hyunjin’s prison, snarling in defiance as the enchantment attempts to throw him back. He channels his own magic into the bars, pumping them full of energy recently harvested from terrified humans and the few, powerful mouthfuls he’d taken from the fallen sylphs. The enchantment doesn’t stand a chance against his tumultuous fury and it shatters, the steel rods warping and bending immediately after as he forces them further apart.

Behind the Dawn Prince, Felix has the drifter faery’s skull in his hand and is repeatedly smashing it into the wall until at last the man stops struggling, his face awash with blood. The white-haired sylph wails brokenly at Felix’s feet, semi-coherent and missing an arm, her magic instinctively having kept her from bleeding out. The Dusk Prince barely glances at her as he reaches down to gouge out one of her eyes, her whole body jolting before it goes limp, unconscious. Felix lifts the morsel, speared on one fingertip, to his mouth. It is tough and chewy, as all eyeballs are, but his teeth are sharp and his hunting urges strong and he makes short work of it.

_‘Dusk,’_ Minho growls and Felix whips his head around.

Minho has made his way into the tiny cell and his hands hover uncertainly over Hyunjin’s choking, writhing body. Understanding what must happen next, Felix grabs the sylph by her throat and drags her and the drifter into the prison, dumping them next to the other princes.

‘I’ll hold him still, you feed him,’ Minho instructs, promptly wrapping an arm around Hyunjin’s shoulders and popping open his mouth with a firm grip on his jaw.

The Noon Prince doesn’t even seem to notice; his eyes stay shut and he simply shivers and quakes in Minho’s hold. Felix’s heart breaks at the sight and it is without a single drop of remorse that he slits open the drifter’s belly. Blood wells up and spills over the edges of the wound as Felix reaches inside and tears out a small strip of warm flesh.

He carefully places it in Hyunjin’s mouth and the reaction is immediate, the Noon Prince’s jaw slamming shut around the offering, his body lunging forward. Minho grunts, muscles iron as he keeps Hyunjin in place and watching closely to make sure he doesn’t choke in his eagerness. As soon as the flesh is swallowed, Hyunjin’s mouth opens again, his head twisting this way and that as he tries to find more. Felix promptly feeds him another piece of the drifter and on they go.

Six strips of flesh later, all three princes are covered in blood and Hyunjin’s blue eyes flicker open, his lids heavy. His gaze wanders restlessly and it takes him a moment to realise who is sitting in front of him. But then he does and he freezes, eyes widening in shock.

‘Hello, Noon,’ Felix croons, stroking Hyunjin’s cheek with a careful hand.

Minho leans forward, curling over the weakened prince, and a smile of pure relief blooms on his face. ‘Glad to have you with us, sleepyhead.’ The words are a light tease but his tone is so very, very soft.

A raspy sob shakes Hyunjin and his face crumples, his whole body relaxing now that he knows who holds him.

‘Come on, you need to keep eating,’ Felix murmurs, reaching his hand deeper into the faery next to him and ripping out a piece of muscle.

Hyunjin tries to speak, but coughs instead and mewls in pain.

‘Hush, hush,’ Minho soothes, squeezing the Noon Prince briefly as Felix feeds him. ‘There will be time for words later. For now, eat.’

By the time the drifter rises to consciousness again, groaning, Hyunjin is strong enough to feed himself. With a little help from Minho, he sits up and then hunting instincts take over and his teeth flash as he tears into the dying faery’s belly. The man’s voice lilts up into a scream but a sharp slash across his throat from Felix leaves him gurgling and choking on his own blood.

The Dawn and Dusk Princes ignore their own hunger and keep watch to ensure Hyunjin’s feeding goes well. It does – the Noon Prince quickly grows in strength and it takes him only an hour or two to devour all the appetising parts of both the drifter and sylph. When he lifts his head for the last time from the latter, he looks much healthier, his eyes alert and his movements fluid.

‘There is another aboveground for you,’ Minho says, already slipping an arm under Hyunjin’s in preparation to help him stand.

Felix gets his other side and Hyunjin willingly leans his weight against them, letting them all but lift him to his feet. He tries to take a step with his own strength but wavers and nearly topples over, his body yet weak. Minho promptly sweeps the Noon Prince up into his arms and Felix strokes his hair, comforting him until he stops making little noises of distress. Then they leave the cell and make their way back to the surface and out of the house, following the blood trail left by the white-haired sylph to the front door, which lies on the ground several paces away.

The first sylph’s corpse lies where they left it and Minho crouches down nearby, releasing Hyunjin and letting him fall upon the new meal with ravenous enthusiasm. After several days of starvation, his body will require more fuel than usual to restore its energy stocks. Minho and Felix will bring Hyunjin as much flesh and blood to consume as he needs, even if they must do all the hunting for him.

The Noon Prince makes short work of the sylph’s body and he wipes his face on his bare arm when he is done, leaving a streak of bright red on his fair skin. He blinks at the other princes, a slightly hazy look about him, and they realise with mild amusement that he has glutted himself.

‘Too much food too quickly, hmm?’ Minho says, encouraging a pliant Hyunjin back into the secure cradle of his arms.

‘Rest, Noon,’ Felix murmurs.

Hyunjin pouts up at him and it takes Felix a second to realise the Noon Prince wants to be petted again. Huffing faintly through his nose, Felix settles down next to him, shoulder to shoulder with Minho, and starts combing his fingers through Hyunjin’s unkempt hair. They sit quietly for a short time in the morning sun and soon, Hyunjin falls asleep.

Felix’s attention falls to the awful silver collar still secure around the Noon Prince’s throat. ‘We need to get rid of that.’

Minho hisses, rose-pink eyes still aglow with energy. ‘Leave it for now or we’ll just wake him up.’

Humming his agreement, Felix keeps petting Hyunjin. It’s at least as soothing for him than for the other prince. Only now is his deep-seated rage beginning to cool, the fear he has harboured for weeks in his heart starting to fade. He knows Minho is likewise taking comfort and reassurance from the solid weight of Hyunjin against his chest.

‘I’ve never been so scared in my life,’ the Dusk Prince whispers some time later, watching Hyunjin breathe easily in his sleep.

Minho lifts a hand and squeezes the back of Felix’s. ‘We found him. He is safe with us now, Dusk.’

‘Not safe enough,’ Felix retorts without heat.

Taking a moment to consider those words, the Dawn Prince replies, ‘Your decision is unchanged, then?’

Felix looks up, gold eyes catching pink ones. ‘Is yours not, Dawn?’

Minho shakes his head. ‘Then we have only to convince him,’ he says, glancing down at the rumpled silk-clad prince sleeping against him.

A quiet snort. ‘I do not think that will be very hard, do you? He has ever been the most emotional of us all.’

Lips shaping a small, genuine smile, Minho silently agrees.

Persistent, nagging hunger drags Hyunjin from the best sleep he’s had in a long time and he grumbles, burrowing deeper into the warmth he lies against, unwilling to wake. He hears low voices, feels himself held in a familiar embrace, and eventually convinces himself to open his eyes. He sees Minho’s sharp jaw above him and Felix sitting opposite, one hand raised to – ah, that’s what Hyunjin feels on his head.

The Dusk Prince notices he is awake and brightens, sunshine eyes faintly glowing. ‘Hello again; how are you feeling?’

Hyunjin glances up again and sees Minho watching him too, expression pinched though his hold is careful. Unsure if his throat will let him speak, Hyunjin is pleasantly surprised to try it out and find that it does.

‘Better,’ he manages, voice no louder than a mumble and twice as scratchy. ‘Hungry.’

‘No surprises there,’ Felix says lightly. ‘Before we move, though, there’s one thing left to do.’

The Noon Prince blinks lethargically, uncomprehending. Minho taps the collar Hyunjin had completely forgotten he wore and he stiffens. Magic diverts automatically from the all-important task of healing his body to shoving against the enchanted necklet and he begins to tremble again, still too weak to do both things at once.

‘Hey, stop that!’ Minho barks, giving him a sharp shake to break his concentration.

Hyunjin immediately wilts back against the Dawn Prince, panting as his magic reluctantly returns to healing him.

‘Don’t you dare do something so stupid again,’ Minho growls, hugging Hyunjin tighter. ‘Your only job is to look after yourself now, do you understand me? That’s it. Dusk and I will take care of everything else.’

‘Dawn is right,’ Felix concurs sternly, cupping Hyunjin’s jaw and fixing him with a hard stare. ‘Your first priority is yourself, Noon. Trust us to deal with the rest.’

Slowly raising a hand, Hyunjin bracelets Felix’s wrist, vulnerable blue eyes burning into fierce gold. Moisture wells at his lash line but quickly disappears, reabsorbed by his hungry body.

‘Trust,’ he whispers. ‘I trust you. I do. Both of you,’ he continues, tipping back his head a little to meet Minho’s gaze too. ‘I knew you’d come for me eventually. I knew you would.’ He shivers again, memory turning cornflower-blue cloudy. ‘She – she told me you wouldn’t... that you’d all given up...’

Felix swallows the roar of fury building in his throat. It won’t help. Besides, the sylph is already dead.

‘But she lied,’ Hyunjin mumbles, brows pinching together. ‘I knew she was lying. I knew I could trust you both, my Dawn and my Dusk.’

A little gasp slips past Minho’s lips, his rose eyes wide and wet, and Felix’s breath hitches. Hyunjin notices their responses and smiles shyly, pale cheeks flushing. He releases Felix’s wrist and arches his neck slightly.

‘Get rid of it,’ he implores. ‘Please.’

Hyunjin could have asked just about anything at all of the other princes and they would have broken the earth to fulfil his wishes. As it is, nothing so dramatic is required. They each press the fingertips of one hand to the collar and push their magic through it. The metal burns white-hot against Hyunjin’s skin for a second, before melting away to nothing at all.

‘Let me – just for a moment,’ the Noon Prince murmurs, and he reaches out with a whisper of magic, relishing in the freedom as he brushes over first Felix and then Minho’s presence.

He feels the spark of their magic, their energies bouncing and spiking at his familiar touch, and he smiles again, retracting his much-needed strength.

‘Alright,’ he says. ‘We can go now.’

Felix blinks and a tear crawls down his cheek, but he ignores it in favour of looking over Hyunjin’s head to meet the Dawn Prince’s gaze. Something silent passes between them and Hyunjin only just barely manages not to demand that they share; he trusts them to explain. Whatever answer Minho gives, it seems to please Felix, who sits up straighter and looks down at the Noon Prince again.

‘I probably shouldn’t be saying this now,’ Felix starts, which is an interesting way to begin, ‘and it’s possible I shouldn’t say this ever, but when has that ever stopped us?’

He huffs a laugh and Hyunjin realises with some surprise that the Dusk Prince is _nervous._

‘Noon,’ he says seriously and Hyunjin gulps, relaxing a little when Felix takes his hands. ‘I have never been so terrified in all my years as I have been these past weeks. I cannot permit this to happen again; you and Dawn are far too precious to me. What good is a dusk without the warm dawn and the bright noon?’

Hyunjin’s mouth is very dry now and he clings to Felix’s hands for dear life.

Tongue darting out to moisten his lips, Felix continues, ‘Prince of Noon. Will you – will you do me the inestimable honour of forming a life-bond with me?’

_‘Yes,’_ Hyunjin says as emphatically as he can almost before Felix is finished speaking. He strains forward in Minho’s hold, emotions running riot inside him. ‘I will form a life-bond with you, Prince of Dusk.’

Minho does not let him go, however, instead leaning down to brush his lips over Hyunjin’s ear as he quietly says, ‘I may not have Dusk’s eloquence, but my heart is yours, Prince of Noon. Will you form a life-bond with me?’

Nodding until he is quite dizzy, Hyunjin chokes out, ‘Yes, yes, yes, _yes_, I will bond with you both. I have no wish to shine alone.’

‘And never again will you have to,’ Felix vows, but Minho is already speaking over the top of him.

‘Prince of Dusk,’ the Dawn Prince says, delight audible in his voice. ‘Every day must come to a close and I would have no other than you guide us safely through the night. Will you form a life-bond with me as well?’

A strangled noise, half outrage and half a tearful sob, bursts out of Felix as he lifts one hand to cradle the side of Minho’s face. ‘You bastard,’ he splutters. ‘This was my idea; I was meant to ask first!’

Hyunjin laughs, the sound rough and pure.

‘We can argue about that later,’ Minho huffs. ‘Give me an answer or I’ll think you don’t like me.’

‘_Like_ you? I may not always like you, Prince of Dawn, but I will certainly always _love_ you. Yes, I will bond with you too.’

And with that, it is done.

A powerful magic bond snaps into being between all three princes leaving them breathless. Hyunjin, of course, is the first to burst into tears, even if his body refuses to release any moisture from his eyes. He is promptly wrapped up in the firm embrace of the two faeries he has tied his life to and they weep plenty of tears for him. They shower one another in kisses, holding each other so close that it is hard to tell where one faery begins and the next begins.

Hyunjin finds he doesn’t really mind the prospect of becoming one third of the whole that they three make. After all, he has Felix and Minho with him forever now, and what more could he ask for than that?

‘Come,’ he says at last. ‘The hunting season is only just begun and I am very hungry. Let us go and eat.’

His two new bond-partners immediately agree, slightly chagrined that they’d forgotten about that in the face of their excitement. But they calm when Hyunjin presses a kiss to each of their cheeks. Then Minho gathers the Noon Prince up in his arms and, with Felix close by, they spread their wings and take to the skies.

Bloodlust sings in their veins and thrums in the beat of their hearts, and the faery princes do not look back.

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to kard for being the bad guys, I love them really I swear 
> 
> goretober? check  
danceline story based on last isac's amazing pictures? check
> 
> next jeonglix chapter is partway through construction and a 2min is in the works too. pardon my rather slow update schedule atm, am a busy bee. oh and keep an eye out for the skzfest fics, which start rolling out next weekend! see if u can guess which is mine :^) u can find em [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/StrayKidsFicFestRound2019/works)
> 
> lastly, please leave a comment if u enjoyed this ;; they really help motivate me ;;


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